Surgical instrument.



R..S. ARTHUR.

SURGICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLIUATION FILED 51111116, 1910.

INVENTOR Y B i' L 10mm? RICHARDS. ARTHUR, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

SURGICALy 'INsTRUMENr Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16,1912.

Application led September 16, 1910. VSerial No. 582,314.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, RICHARD S. ARTHUR, acitizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essexand State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Surgical Instruments; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,suchl as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to gvures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to a surgical instrunient and in particularto aspeculum that is adapted for vaginal uses and for lany other usestowhich speculums are adapted to be put. The speculum is also adapted forusevare yieldingly held so that a spasmodic or other pressure, by theparts distended, results in a giving way or collapsing of the fingers.The fingers of the speculum are so constructed that when drawn together,or at their inward limit of movement, the projecting ends are at anangle, preferably an obtuse angle, to the handle or barrel which formsthe support for the ngers.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which-Figure 1 is a side view of the improved speculum, and Fig. 2 is a frontview thereof. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3, 3, vin Fig. 4, but partlybroken away. Fig. 4 is a top view of the handle of the device with thefingers removed.v Fig. 5 is a perspective view. of a thimble used in thedevice. Figs. 6 and 7 are details of modified forms of fingers used inthe speculum.

The device comprises a suitable barrel forming a handle 10, Athepreferred form being cylindrical, and the barrel has a head 11 on oneend, the head having a series of wings 12 projecting therefrom having.slots 13 formed therein. Three of these slots are usually used, althoughthe head can be made with any suitable number.

The head has a perforation 14 passing through it in line with the'center of the barrel 10. In the perforation 14 is arranged a thimble 15which slides in the head and is prevented from turning by a lug 16 whichprojects into a slot 17 in the barrel. The thimble is recessed andscrew-threaded as at 18 to re' ceive a screw-threaded post` 19 which isconnected with a stem 20 which passes through a nut 21 ony the end ofthe barrel opposite the head, said end being provided with a handle 22by means of which the stem is turned. The handle is preferably made sothat it can be quickly attached and detached, being held in place bythe. friction of a spring staple 23 against the side of the stem, thestem being rounded on its end 24 to facilitate the seating of thehandlewhen it is being attached. A coiled spring 25 is placed within thebarrel and incloses the stem, the spring abutting on one end on the nut21 and on the other end on a disk 26 which has a teat 27 projecting intothe slot 17 so that the disk can not turn. This disk only serves as anindicator through the slot on the scale 28 and can be dispensed with ifdesired. The ange 28 bears the pressure of the spring, said flange beingfastened to the stem 20. It will be seenfrom the drawing that the springhas a constant tendency to force the thimble 15 upward. The thimble 15has a head'30 thereon and is provided with an annular groove 31 near thehead. The head of the thimble is split, by saw-cuts 32, which gives thehead the property of being slightly compressed when necessary. Bridgingeach slot 13 is a pin 33 which is placed near the outer end of the slot.The lingers 34 are'each'provided with an end plate 3 5 on its inner end.Each plate is flat to iit a slot 13 and has a recess 36 on its outeredge which is caught over the pin 33 in its slot,`and when the thimbleis slightly lforced outward, by turning the handle, the nose 37 of the'plate can be sprung over the rounded split head'30 of the thimble 15 andsnapped into the groove 31 and held in place against accidentaldisplacement, but it can be removed by a jerk strong enough to p'ull thenose 37 from the' groove 31 by overcoming the resiliency of the springhead 30.

The spreading or operative portion of the lingers can be of any desired`configuration,

as will be hereinafter described, butinall cases they must be made withshanks to place Aio the fingers in juxtaposition when the thimble isdrawn downward in the head by the screw post 19 being turned inthescrewthreaded recess 18 by turning the handle 22. rlhe fingers shown inFigs. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate this when the bottom finger has a shank 38which is short, and the upper fingers have the curved and comparativelyswinging on the pins 33, are moved away from each other as in Fig. 3.VThis movement is retarded at first by the natural resistance of themuscles undergoing distention and reacts, through the thimble and stem,

Y muscles engaged by the finger from slipping on the spring 25 andforces it to be slightly compressed, the teat 27 showing on the scale 28the number of pounds t-ension necessary to force the fingers apart. Theparticular disposition of the fingers, that is, their being placed at anangle to the handle, permits an inspection between the distended fingerswhich is not interfered with by the handle or the operating p-arts. rThespring, by its vcompressibility, allows the fingers to be forcedtogether by excessive spasmodic compression of the parts distended. Thefingers in this speculum can be easily' and quickly changed, anddifferent fingers can be used on the same barrel. In Figs. 1,- 2 and 3 Ishow fingers of spatulate form, and in Fig. 6 I show a narrow or rodfinger 40, one only of the set being shown, the bottom one. In Fig. 7 isshown the bottom finger of a set which has a long shank, the shank 38 inthe drawing being broken away. Thewidened part 41 of the finger has theusual outwardly turned end 42 t-o prevent slipping, and I have foundthat a bulged or raised ridge 43 gives excellent results by preventingthe Vover the'end of the finger. A similar function is performed by theridges 44 of the finger 40, in Fig. 6. y

The particular for'm of thimble, or the plates to engage it, 'is not theonly construction that can be usedl for operating the fingers, and I donot wish to be understood as limiting myselfvto'the device illustrated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A speculum comprising a barrel having a head thereon, the head havingslots'therein, a set of fingers having plates on their in- Vnei*ends,'the plate of each finger having a recess on its outer edge and anose on its inner edge, pins so arranged that each pin 5 bridges a slotin the head, vthe plates of the l,fingers being adapted to have theirrecessed portions detachably fitted over the pins, the

fingers having their projecting ends projecting at an obtuse angle tothe handle and all to one side thereof, and means extending.

`so Y spring means on the thimblewith which the noses of the fingersengage to detachably secure them so that when the thimble is slid thefingers are swung toward Vor from each other. Y

3. A speculum comprising a barrel having a head thereon, the head havingradial slots therein, a pin in each slot,' a thimblearranged to slide inthe head, means for sliding the thimble, said means extending throughthe barrel, an annular groove on the t-himble, the thimble having arounded head which is split toV give the head a spring action, andfingers, each finger having a plate provided with a recess on one edgeto receive apin in one of the slots of the head and having a nose on itsother edge, said nose being adapted to be sprung over the spring headofthe thimble'and be seated in the annular groove.

4. A speculum comprising a head having radial slots therein, a pinextending across each slot, fingers, each finger having a plate on oneend, the plate having a recess in one edge and a nose on the oppositeedge, the recess Vof each plate being adapted to receive one of thepins, a thimble sliding in the head and having a rounded end, thethimble having an annular-groove below the rounded end and being spliton its rounded end to give it a spring action whereby the noses on theplates can be sprung over the rounded end and into the annular groove ofthe thimble, a suitable support for the head, and means for sliding thethimble to cause the fingers to lbe swung toward or from each other. Y

5. A speculum comprising a barrel forming a handle, a stem in the barrelterminating in a screw-threaded post, a head on the barrel, the head'being slotted, a pin bridging each slot, fingers having plates on oneend of each nger, each plate having a reedge, the recess being'adaptedto receive Ya pin and to permit 'theplate to swing in a slot in thehead,rmeans for turning the stem, and a thimble .slidingin the head, thethimble having a screw-threaded recess to receive the post and having avrounded split seV Vcess on one edge and a nose on the opposite head andan annular groove adjacent to the head, the groove being adapted toreceive the noses of the plates.

6. A speculum comprising a barrel, a head on the barrel. a set offingers, co-aoting means on the head and the fingers for detachablysecuring the fingers in swinging relation to the head, and means forengaging the fingers to swing them on the head, the engaging means beingadapted to be detachable from the fingers whereby the iingers can bejerked outward Vfrom engagement with the engaging means and thendetached from the head.

7. A speculum comprising a barrel, a head on the barrel, a set offingers, co-acting means on the head and the fingers for detachablysecuring the fingers in swinging relation to the head, and means passingthrough the barrel for engaging the fingers to swing them on the head,the engaging means and the fingers having co-acting spring connectionswhereby the fingers can be jerked Jfrom engagement with the engagingmeans and then detached from the head, the engaging means normallyacting to operate the lingers so that they can be swung toward or fromeach other.

8. A speculum comprising a barrel, a head on the barrel, the head havingslots therein, pins bridging the slots, a set of fingers arranged toswing in the slots and to be detachably pivoted on the pins, a stem inthe barrel having a screw-threaded post thereon, a thimble having ascrew-threaded recess to engage the post, the thimble having meansthereon for detachably securing it to the fingers, means for operatingthe stem and post to slide the thimble in the head to swing the fingerstoward and from each other, a flange on the stem, and a spring engagingthe flange and tending to force the stem and the thimble upward to swingthe fingers apart.

9. A speculum comprising a barrel, a head on the barrel, the head beingslotted, a set of fingers, means for detachably pivoting the fingers inthe slots, a thimble sliding in the head, the thimble having aroundedhead which is split to give it a spring action, the thimble also havingan annular groove adjacent to the head, noses on the fingers adapted tobe sprung over the head and into the groove of the thimble, ascrew-threaded post adapted to enter the thimble and when rotatedoperating to slide the thimble in the head, means for preventingrot-ation of the thimble, a stem on the post, means for operating thestem, a flange on the stem, and e. spring abutting on the flange andacting to force the stem and the thimble outward to normally throw theiingers apart.

10. A speculum comprising a barrel having a head on one end, lingersdetachably secured in swinging relation to the head, and an operatingmeans passing through the barrel, the operating means and each fingerhaving co-acting elements to detachably secure them ltogether wherebyeach finger canfbe Vindependently detached from both the head and theoperating means.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set my handthis 23rd day of August, 1910.

RICHARD S. ARTHUR.

Witnesses:

WM. I-I. GAMFIELD, M. A. JOHNSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

